Electro-fusion of cells: principles and potential for the future

Exposure of cells or liposomes to a brief pulse of a strong electrical field can result in a reversible breakdown of the outer membrane. Such breakdown results in an increase in permeability of the plasmalemma, which however re-seals after a short incubation (i.e. the original impermeability is restored). Two or more cells in contact can be made to fuse by this process, provided that the contact is close enough and that the pulse of the electrical field is short enough not to damage the cells. Methods of achieving this contact by electrical and magnetic fields are described. The magnetic method does not demand the use of the low conductivity media used earlier. Other possible modifications of this flexible technique are also described, and used to show how the technique can be modified in future, and how it may be applied to the fields of membrane research, medicine and plant breeding.